Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1887-03-17
CAUSE OF THE BIG CRASH
THE FOHEsT HIIL BRIDGE A
HANGING DEATH-TRAP.

TWO Hangers Which Carried all the
Load Hanging Together for an Ipdefi-
rtte Period by "a BRir-Thousands of
Lives JeopsrdiEed by the Disgrace
fully Defective Structure.
NEW YORK, March 16.--The Engineer
ing News having thoroughly Investigated
tbs cause of the Forest Hill disaster, on
The Boston and Providence railroad, will
publish the following in regard to 1t in
THIS weeks issue:
The cause OF this dreadful catastrophe has
neen very obscure IN the newspaper accounts,
me only certain thing having been that the
bridge was a sort of patch work noDdescTipt,
wnlch violated several OF the most important
ana fundamental requlremen ts Of good bridge
designing. We are now emlneutly able to
sned fGr mora light on what the precise cause
WAS than has heretofore appeared, or than is
at all likely 10 appear from any other source,
even in The official investigation. from the
TACT that we have now In onr Office what VIII
probably be tho most important bit OF evil
dence In that investigation. viz: the two
original ports which in all human probability
were the first to break.
ABSOLUTELY CONCLUSIVE.
These parts are in possession of Henry 5.
fritchard, civil engineer and practical
bridge engineer, of PHILADELPHIA, who under
TOOK to critically examine the structure on
oehalf OF this journal. and WHO went about 1t
those who had preceded him.
In connection with further information
gathered for US within an hour or two after
the accident occurred byFrederick Brooks,
civil engineer. OF Boston, these fragments
may be said to he absolutely conclusive as TO
the real difficulty, since it Is impossible that
there should have been more defective parts
IN the bridge II Il was To stand up at all.
THE FIRST TO BREAK.
The parts which first broke were the two
W ich ~ tha laa at
erly pair OF floor beams of the northerly or
last built truss-the truss which carried the
load. SO Tar As can be judged from outside ap-
peAr2Dce they are made OF far from good
iron to begin with, but in addition to that
they are OF very bad design and most imper-
fectly welded. In addition to that again they
are Doth of them very badly flawed by old
and deeply rJlsted breaks at the most strained
section, there being TWO distinct breaks OF
this kind TO eaca. The first hanger has bOth
breaks across the weld, the fret break being
complete and the second break an incn and
an eighth above it, all hut complete, the metal
merely hanging together by the outside skin.
.- USELESS FOR LONG FINE.
This hanger can never have done any work
since its original and now ancient fracture,
or 1t would have broken apart long since. The
second hanger was cracked across half OF it's
inside face covered by tho supposed weld for
about hall it's depth OF effective section, and
this was clearly where the fracture first be-
gan. 1t caused a secondary fracture at tho
end, which cut of somewhe larger portion
of ths effective strength Of the IRON.
COULD NOT BE WORSE.
All this Is clearly shown in engravings OF
the bridge and its broken parts which appear
in this issue, and the general judgment OF
engineers will bear us out in SAYING that more
ehamefully bad specimens of bridge design,
metal and workmanship can hardly exist.
We regret 10 have to express SO sweeping a
condemnation OF the structure, but the facts
more than justify it. and il is but right that
in an occurrence Of this kind the truth should
be pointed out and made clear Without fear
or favor. 1t is appalling TO think OF the tens
of thousands of lives which have literally
hung by thread in passing over this bridge
during the past eleven years.
BURYING THE DEAD.
BOSTON, March 16.-A number Of the
victims OIL the Forest Hill accident were
buried from Roslindale, Dedham and
West Roxbury today. There are
many who are seriously, it
not fatally injured in Roslindale,
whose death al any moment may be
looked for, and the probability is tnat the
dead will number over thirty. Some Of the
injured are so badly shaken up and in
ternally injured that their recovery will
be a matter of months. There are many,
100, who were removed Immediately after
the accident to various points in Roslin-
dale whose names did not appear at all
in the papers.